*PLEASE NOTE: Unless otherwise specified, all rules are in place for all rounds.

Below are all rules, schedules and prizes regarding the 2021 Newgrounds Audio Deathmatch (NGADM). Please make sure that you understand the rules, as by entering you agree to be held by them.

General Rules:

1. To enter, you must either: a) be a scouted Audio Portal musician here on Newgrounds, or b) be eligible to be scouted here on Newgrounds's Audio Portal. If you are unaware of what scouting is or how it works, please refer to this guide.
2. You must follow all guidelines outlined in the Audio Portal Guidelines in your submission.
3. You may only submit your own work from the Newgrounds Audio Portal. Works submitted from Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. will not be accepted, and neither will work from your friend made on your behalf.
4. Your work must be original - which means that you should stay away from recognizable hooks and/or memes (sorry).
5. While we do not have a solid limit on song length for each round, we do suggest (especially in the audition/early rounds) that your song is between 2-6 minutes. This allows a good amount of time to develop an idea while still being engaging with a large quantity of other songs.
6. You may submit a song that pertains to another competition, provided that it follows both competitions' rules.

For the Audition Round Only:

1. You may submit any covers, mashups, remixes, VIPs, loops, or any work started before the beginning of the round.
2. You are not allowed to submit anything that is considered a MIDI rip and/or stolen song, as per the Audio Portal Guidelines.

For All Rounds After the Audition Round:

1. You may not submit any covers, mashups, remixes, VIPs, loops, or anything that is not considered original work.
2. You may not start on a piece for the next round before that round officially begins.
3. All members who were close to entry into a round will be considered "backups" and become part of a backup pool for that round. In the case that a main competitor drops out or DNSs, a backup will be placed in their spot if there are any available.
4. If you DNS or drop out of the competition, you will not be allowed into the backup pool and will not be allowed re-entry as a competitor.

Regarding Teams:

1. If you wish to participate as a duo or band, every member must actively take part in every round. Tag teaming is not allowed.
2. If participating as a band, it is recommended that the producer remains consistent.
3. If a member of a team/duo decides to drop out, they are unable to rejoin the team/duo and the rest of the members may choose to continue without them.

Schedule:

1. Unless otherwise noted, all timeframes will begin at 12:01 AM Eastern and end at 11:59 PM Eastern on their specified days.
2. You may not submit a track after the timeframe for submission has passed. If the timeframe ends and you have no submitted tracks, you will be considered as DNS and a backup will fill your spot.
3. You may not start a track for any round until the round begins its submission timeframe.
4. You may not edit/change your track during the judging timeframe. If you wish to make changes during the submission timeframe, you may do so and notify the submission thread (in the case that judges have already judged your work).

EDIT: THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE IS THE MOST UP TO DATE AS OF AUGUST 2. ANY DATES IN BOLD HAVE BEEN CHANGED FROM THE ORIGINAL SCHEDULE.

Audition Round Submission: June 21 -> July 18

Audition Round Judging: July 19 -> August 2

Round 1 Submission: August 3 -> August 16

Round 1 Judging: August 17 -> August 22

Round 2 Submission: August 23 -> September 5

Round 2 Judging: September 6 -> September 12

Round 3 Submission: September 13 -> September 26

Round 3 Judging: September 27 -> October 3

Final Round Submission: October 4 -> October 17

Final Round Judging: October 18 -> October 24

Judges:

The following people are on the 2021 NGADM Judging Panel:

• SplatterDash
• Troisnyx
• Spadezer
• User-Jacob
• AceMantra
• Glassedhouse
• The-Great-One

1. Any and all judges are not allowed to compete in the NGADM.
2. During the early rounds, the judges may offer feedback on pieces by request following the judging period; for the last three rounds, judges will be leaving reviews on each track.
3. If any questions arise on critique, please do not carry it outside of DMs. The judges are here to listen, but they aren't going to listen if you make the issue into a knockoff Twitter argument.
4. Please be respectful to the judges. Like you, they're human and have many other things to do in life as well.

Prizes:

1. Because this competition involves physical prizes, we must mandate that all participants are 18 years of age or older and are in a location that is open to US trade/shipping.
2. Please note that the prize list may be subject to change. If you would like to contribute to the prize list, make a Supporter donation and PM TomFulp to let him know you are donating to the NGADM prize pool.

It's currently empty in here... why not drop in a few cents in the Supporter donation tab?